agree...He was the 17th player taken in the draft...Pro's he was amazing but he's not in the discussion for best college player of all time. He was taken 15 picks after that incredible running back from the State Penn, Blair Thomas
Discussion: Is Aaron Donald the greatest Pitt player of all-time?
- Thread starter HailToPitt725
- Start date
Here's the what could have been scenario for Pitt and Aaron Donald. As great and dominant as Donald was during his Junior and Senior years- it could have been a very special era for Pitt if Wanny remained as coach.
Chryst and Co were damn near incompetent with their recruiting of the defensive side of ball. Back then, Pitt couldn't make offenses pay for dedicated 2 and 3 players for AD.. and he still won every major award for the position.
Chryst and Co were damn near incompetent with their recruiting of the defensive side of ball. Back then, Pitt couldn't make offenses pay for dedicated 2 and 3 players for AD.. and he still won every major award for the position.
Essentially, there were several Panthers who had better seasons/career as Aaron at Pitt. Aaron's NFL stint is certainly amazing, but we've had a lot of great players.agree...He was the 17th player taken in the draft...Pro's he was amazing but he's not in the discussion for best college player of all time. He was taken 15 picks after that incredible running back from the State Penn, Blair Thomas
This. Donald was outstanding as a collegian, but has taken his play to new levels as a pro.
Best Pitt college player ever? Maybe not in Top 10.
Best Pitt NFL player ever? Probably
It's Dorsett and it's not even close. TD should have won two Heisman's and he dominated from day one of his first game as a freshman. Singlehandedly turned the entire program around.
Or it could have been mediocre, just like most of Wannstedt's career both at Pitt and everywhere else.
He's absolutely in the top 10. He had one of the most dominant seasons you'll ever seen from a defensive player his senior year. For the sake of comparison, Aidan Hutchinson at Michigan finished second in the running for the Heisman this year. During AD's senior year, he had 12 more TFLs and two more forced fumbles than Hutchinson had last year despite being an interior defensive lineman.
And I'm pretty sure AD finished 11th or 12th in the Heisman vote, as an interior lineman on a mediocre team (what was our record? 6-6?). He won just about every postseason award he was eligible for, other than the Heisman.
I think he had 59 tackles, and 28.5 of them were TFLs. He literally played on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
Last edited:
TD's rushing record stood for over 20 years. It's hard to top that.
Lots of good arguments. Personally, I think Doesett is still the greatest Panther of all-time because of his individual ability and the significance he had on the program.
So let me ask a question.
2013 Jamies Winston win the heisman. He had a great year, but frankly not a better year than Pickett and and young this year. He won because of hype.
If Hutchinson was second this year, I’d say that Donald really should have won in 2013, but he played for the wrong team. There is no more damming example of how stupid the heisman than that Donald didn’t even get a vote.
would it change opinions if Donald rightfully won the heisman that year?
2013 Jamies Winston win the heisman. He had a great year, but frankly not a better year than Pickett and and young this year. He won because of hype.
If Hutchinson was second this year, I’d say that Donald really should have won in 2013, but he played for the wrong team. There is no more damming example of how stupid the heisman than that Donald didn’t even get a vote.
would it change opinions if Donald rightfully won the heisman that year?
What if Dorsett had won two Heisman Trophy’s? (he deserved it his junior year as well)… It’s tough to play the “what if” game.
Dorsett changed the direction of the program. He led Pitt to a National Championship. For that, he will forever be known as the greatest Panther ever…
As I said previously, Donald is the most decorated Panther player in NFL history (edging out Marino) and he has a few years left…
BTW… Did you catch the Rams celebration parade? It was a pathetic showing by the fans… After experiencing a couple of Steeler Super Bowl celebrations in Pittsburgh, I wonder what Donald was thinking?
AD was feeling real good at a certain point. He’s living his best life and I doubt the crowd size dampened it much.
In many ways, Dorsett might have saved Pitt football altogether. If what I’ve read on here regarding the state of the program post-JM2 is true, what happens if they don’t have that string of success in the late 70s/early 80s that he helped propel?
Are we FBS right now? Do we even have a football team?
Let me give some more history to the younger fans here…
Dorsett is the entire package when you consider the greatest Panther of all time. If Dorsett doesn’t come to Pitt (believe me nobody would have blamed him if he didn’t), history would have changed forever. He put Pitt back on the map. Without him, we don’t get a fraction of the talented recruits that came to Pitt in the years that followed…
Majors played a big part in the resurrection of Pitt football, but without Dorsett, he doesn’t come close to the same success. We certainly don’t win the National Championship.
In Dorsett’s junior year, he single handily destroyed ND. He rushed for 303 yards against ND’s legendary defense led by Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner and fellow 1st Round picks; Steve Niehaus & Luther Bradley. He also added 71 receiving yards as well. That game turned the fortunes of Pitt overnight. If Dorsett is not at Pitt, we lose that game.
That game made believers out of the local recruits. Recruiting the year before was not that good.… We lost players like Joe Montana to other schools. The perception was: a couple of mediocre seasons, but no big deal.
As I mentioned in my original post, during our championship season, we lost our first and second string QB’s (Haygood & Cavanaugh). It would be three games before we got Cavanaugh back. We were down to our 3rd string walk-on QB (Tom Yewcic).
EVERYONE in America knew that all you had to do to beat Pitt was to stop Dorsett. Yewcic, had a weak arm and was not that accurate. In each game, the other team had 8 players in the box trying to stop Dorsett. They couldn’t… In those 3 games, he ran for 648 yards (an avg of 216 yards). That is greatness. Without him, we don’t win the National Championship. We certainly lose the Syracuse game (a 23-13 win) and everything changes…
No player had more of a dramatic effect on a program than Tony Dorsett…
To this day, he is always there to lend Pitt a hand. When they call him, he comes…
This is no slight on Donald. What he has done for the school and in the pro's has been of great value to Pitt. But If Johnny Majors & Tony Dorsett had not come to Pitt, they might be the equivalent to UConn, UMass and Villanova today,
Dorsett is the entire package when you consider the greatest Panther of all time. If Dorsett doesn’t come to Pitt (believe me nobody would have blamed him if he didn’t), history would have changed forever. He put Pitt back on the map. Without him, we don’t get a fraction of the talented recruits that came to Pitt in the years that followed…
Majors played a big part in the resurrection of Pitt football, but without Dorsett, he doesn’t come close to the same success. We certainly don’t win the National Championship.
In Dorsett’s junior year, he single handily destroyed ND. He rushed for 303 yards against ND’s legendary defense led by Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner and fellow 1st Round picks; Steve Niehaus & Luther Bradley. He also added 71 receiving yards as well. That game turned the fortunes of Pitt overnight. If Dorsett is not at Pitt, we lose that game.
That game made believers out of the local recruits. Recruiting the year before was not that good.… We lost players like Joe Montana to other schools. The perception was: a couple of mediocre seasons, but no big deal.
As I mentioned in my original post, during our championship season, we lost our first and second string QB’s (Haygood & Cavanaugh). It would be three games before we got Cavanaugh back. We were down to our 3rd string walk-on QB (Tom Yewcic).
EVERYONE in America knew that all you had to do to beat Pitt was to stop Dorsett. Yewcic, had a weak arm and was not that accurate. In each game, the other team had 8 players in the box trying to stop Dorsett. They couldn’t… In those 3 games, he ran for 648 yards (an avg of 216 yards). That is greatness. Without him, we don’t win the National Championship. We certainly lose the Syracuse game (a 23-13 win) and everything changes…
No player had more of a dramatic effect on a program than Tony Dorsett…
To this day, he is always there to lend Pitt a hand. When they call him, he comes…
This is no slight on Donald. What he has done for the school and in the pro's has been of great value to Pitt. But If Johnny Majors & Tony Dorsett had not come to Pitt, they might be the equivalent to UConn, UMass and Villanova today,
Hugh should have one a Heisman, I believe Pitt destroyed the RB who did win it in the Sugar Boal
Didn't LA require proof of vaccination to attend the parade? Although I'm vaccinated, I'd have stayed home too
Totally agree about Hugh - BEAST!! And the RB they destroyed was George Rodgers in the Gator Bowl. No way Pitt should have been playing in that measly arse bowl game. Totally dominated South Carolina - if Jackie didn't call off the dawgs put would have put 60 on those cats.
After reviewing all the threads, the most compelling argument for best Panther ever is TD hands down. Everyone else is second.
Latest posts
-
Heather wasn’t canned soon enough. Extending this clown…
- Latest: burgherwithcheese
-
-
